In a celebration of the rights of children, the 2014 Nobel Prize for Peace has been awarded to Malala Yousafzai, shot by the Taliban for going to school in Pakistan, and Kailash Satyarthi, who has been…

The Nobel Peace Prize is a major achievement in itself. For it to be awarded – jointly with the Indian anti-child slavery activist Kailash Satyarthi – to a teenager still at secondary school is extraordinary…

Shortly after Pakistan’s May 2013 elections returned Nawaz Sharif to power, I published an article asking whether, having been twice removed from the office of prime minister with less than half his term…

The US major-general killed in an insider attack at a military academy near Kabul is the highest-ranked US casualty since 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another 15 officers were wounded, including…

Reports that Pakistan has launched an offensive against militants in North Waziristan come after years of pressure from the West for Islamabad to deal with the wild border region which has for many years…

Hopes of the Taliban’s decline, up in smoke.
EPA/Rehan Khan16 juin 2014

Only recently, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) was expected to fall apart: violent rivalries had split the insurgency in two, peace talks with the government had collapsed, and military jets had hit hide-outs…

The devastating Taliban attack at Karachi’s Jinnah airport this week was shocking not just for the loss of life, but for the sheer brazenness of the assault. Pakistan is no stranger to terrorist attacks…

Bowe Bergdahl was released in a prisoner exchange on 31 May.
Intelcenter Handout/EPA5 juin 2014

When US soldier Bowe Bergdahl was released after being held captive by the Afghan Taliban for five years, his father said his son was “having trouble speaking English”. Many will find this statement incredible…

Afghanistan’s Hazara minority has a huge stake in the future of democracy.
EPA/Jawad Jalali7 avril 2014

Given that no census has been conducted in Afghanistan since 1979, it’s unclear whether the Hazara ethnic minority constitute 9% or near 20% of the country’s population. What is clear, however, is that…

Talks between the government of Pakistan and the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were initiated last week in a secret location in the country’s north-west. These talks…

The gains made over the past 13 years may be squandered if the troop withdrawal also marks an end to any serious engagement with the country.
United Nations Photo6 novembre 2013

Afghanistan has a special place in the history of international relations, having tested and endorsed many international power equations over the years. But given the imminent troop withdrawal, serious…

‘One book … can change the world’: Malala Yousafzai.
John Blewitt4 septembre 2013

Malala Yousafzai is no ordinary young woman. She has addressed the United Nations, won international prizes and was subject of a short documentary on her life by the New York Times. This is in addition…

Nawaz Sharif has been elected for his third non-consecutive term as Pakistan’s prime minister.
EPA/T. Mughal13 mai 2013

The newly-elected Pakistani government of Nawaz Sharif is set to enact policies – most notably negotiating with the Pakistani wing of the Taliban – that will forever alter the dynamics of this strategically…

The Guardian recently reported the death of a female volunteer in a polio vaccination program in Kapisa province, Afghanistan, who was shot six times and later died in hospital. The shooting has rightly…

An article in the New Statesman reports that Taliban have signalled their willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict in Afghanistan.
20 juillet 2012

The current situation in Afghanistan is a dramatic example of the old adage that all foreign policy is merely an extension of domestic politics. Last week, the British weekly, New Statesman, reported an…

Tracer fire lights up the sky during the attack on Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel.
AAP29 juin 2011

The overnight attack by Taliban forces on Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel demonstrates the ability of the Islamist group to attack Afghan and Western targets in all areas of the country. At least six Taliban…

The funeral of Australian soldier Marcus Case, killed in Afghanistan in June.
AAP14 juin 2011

In an interview conducted in Kabul on Monday June 6, perhaps not coincidentally the 67th anniversary of the Normandy D-Day landings, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus…